


New endings

by artisan447



Category: Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: M/M, Two Blood AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-19
Updated: 2011-12-19
Packaged: 2017-10-27 13:18:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/296272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artisan447/pseuds/artisan447
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Buck gets a call that turns his world upside-down</p>
            </blockquote>





	New endings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [charlottechill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlottechill/gifts).



> This story follows the basis of the Two Blood AU set up by Joe Lawson (as far as I can remember -- the foundation stories are no longer available online), but should be considered AU for supporting characters.
> 
> I also think of it as existing in the same Two Blood AU as a previous story of mine -- [A Buck Moon](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8250), although it's in no way necessary to have read that before reading this.
> 
> Many thanks to [DichotomyStudios](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DichotomyStudios) for the beta and hand-holding. ♥
> 
> The full prompt I received is in the end-notes.

**New endings**

 _"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." -Maria Robinson_

 

 

Buck gets the call on a Tuesday.

Chris can pinpoint that much, because by Friday night, when he's trying to put two and two together and get something even remotely close to four, it's Wednesday that stands out in his memory.

Not that timing matters a damn when it seems Buck's been lying to him, but Chris is an investigator down to his bootlaces and 'when' is as good a place to start as any.

So he thinks back over the week and remembers Wednesday morning, when Buck'd been antsy and restless and seemingly incapable of doing anything more mentally challenging than flicking spit balls at JD and Vin. He's long ago learned that it's better to let his team work their bored, pain-in-the-ass behaviour out of their collective systems than try and rein them in, so he'd let them go at it until the retaliation got out of hand; then sent Buck down to records to flirt with Elise or Joey or whoever the hell else would put up with him and threatened the others with overtime.

Seriously, sometimes he wonders if teaching pre-school wouldn't be easier than wrangling his team.

But it's not until Buck spins him a story about needing to stay in town Wednesday and Thursday nights -- _"something came up, nothing to worry about"_ \-- and follows that up with complete and total avoidance of any time alone with Chris, that he's sure there's something else going on. He's known Buck for the better part of twelve years, and they've shared an underwear drawer for the last four, so the idea that Buck thinks he can hide from him now is almost laughable. Buck's about as deep as sugar bowl, and no more devious, so it's only a matter of time until he spills the beans.

Friday night at the Saloon is raucous and there's a big crowd in; seems as though this close to Thanksgiving everyone's catching up with friends before they do whatever it is they do to catch up with family. The mood is contagious, even Ezra buys a round without prompting, but Buck's sitting at the other side of the table and not sprawling into Chris's space the way he normally does, so Chris is watchful.

"Everybody up for another round?"

Chanu's offer is greeted with a good-natured chorus of assent, and if Chris weren't paying such close attention he'd probably miss the way Buck's eyes narrow. He knows that look, it's the one Buck gets when he sees an opportunity too good to miss. Sure enough, he looks around the room, then pushes to his feet and claps Chanu on the shoulder.

"C'mon," he says. "Tiny and Claire are run off their feet, might as well go get it ourselves."

"Good of you to offer, Buck," Chanu shoots back, keeping his ass firmly planted in his chair.

"Oh no, you don't," Buck laughs. He hauls a protesting Chanu's hand off Vin's thigh, and slings a good-natured arm around his shoulder. "You and Vin'll wind up fused together if you don't let go of him now and then."

Chris watches the pair of them belly-up to the bar. Even from a distance he can see the way Buck leans in closer and takes the conversation to a more serious note while they wait for Inez to make her way over. That's weird enough to give him pause -- there's something going on with Buck, of that much he's sure, but what the hell does Chanu have to do with it?

He catches Vin's eye and raises his eyebrows in enquiry, but Vin just shrugs his ignorance. He's astute enough to have picked up on Buck's mood, but he doesn't seem to have anything to add; whatever it is that has Buck so wound up, he obviously hasn't shared with Vin, either. So Chris talks shop with Nathan and Josiah and tries not to seem too obvious about the fact that he's just waiting to see what Buck will try to pull next.

He doesn't have to wait long until Buck finally pulls him aside.

"Look, Chris," he says, eyes darting around the room, and if he were to try and look any more loose and indifferent, he'd probably fall over and hurt himself. "Something's come up, and I need to get out to the res in the morning. Chanu says Koje's heading out on a spiritual journey tomorrow and might not be back for weeks, so I'll need to get there early. Might be best if I bunk with Vin and Chanu tonight."

Chris tips up his beer and takes a long pull, then drops his hand and looks at Buck. "Seems you've had a lot of 'somethings' coming up lately, Buck."

Buck's head snaps around so fast it's a wonder he doesn't injure his neck. "What?"

Chris would laugh at the ridiculous mix of guilt and feigned confusion on Buck's face if he weren't so pissed off Buck could think him that oblivious, so he just stares him down and waits.

"Look, Chris," Buck eventually tries again, fidgeting as he speaks, and at least he seems to have dropped the innocent act. But that's as far as he gets before he stalls.

Buck doesn't normally have trouble finding words -- the man can turn the most mundane story into the richest fairytale when he's on his game -- and something flips over in Chris's chest when he realises that the only other time he's seen Buck this stuck for words was when he was trying to explain about being Two Blood. His annoyance evaporates, and he takes a step closer so he can grasp hold of Buck's arm.

"This pack business, Buck?" he asks straight out, keeping his voice deliberately low.

Buck looks around, reflexively checking there's no one in hearing range, then lets out a breath and seems to fold in on himself a little. "I don't know. Maybe," he finally concedes, but even though Chris's touch has calmed him some, he still seems agitated. "Just let me talk to Koje, and then I'll come home tomorrow and fill you in."

Trouble is, Buck has a pretty lousy record in handling pack business his own way, and while Chris might know precious little about what's expected of him in his new role as pack leader, he isn't about to let things disintegrate just because he's not paying attention. Not now, when they're all just starting to settle in to this strange life Buck's brought them, and especially not if something's threatening his mate.

"I don't think so," he says, and tightens his hand when Buck starts to protest. "No. I'm Alpha, Buck. You don't take on pack business without me knowing what it is and giving my okay."

If Buck's surprised, he doesn't show it. He just drops his eyes and nods. Chris knows intellectually that it's an ingrained response for Buck to defer to his Alpha when confronted, but it's still a shock when it happens. It isn't the first time he's wished this 'pack leader' thing came with a guide book, and he curses himself for a fool for not challenging his Beta sooner. He runs his hand up Buck's arm and steps in close enough that he can clasp the back of his neck.

"You're not in this on your own, anymore, Buck," he growls, soft and low next to Buck's ear. "You don't get to call the shots now."

Buck shivers under his touch, and presses his big body in closer. His murmured "Chris", breathed into the hollow of Chris's neck, stirs something visceral and, _Jesus_ , Chris has to physically stop himself from pushing his mate up against the wall and marking him right there in the bar.

"Come on," he says, gritting the words out through clenched teeth. Buck has always been important to him, even through the periods when they each loved someone else, but Chris could never have guessed the strength of the feelings that would be triggered by formalising their relationship as Alpha and mate. He steps back to put some space between them but still maintains contact by keeping his hand on Buck's lower back. "Come outside and tell me what the hell is going on."

Buck looks dazed, and Chris can't blame him, he's feeling a little that way himself. He nods reassurance to Vin's watchful look as he steers Buck past the team table, and then they're out in the cool air of the parking lot and into the shadows around the corner of the building. He leans against the wall, not surprised when Buck sidles in close and leans against him.

"All right, spill it." He runs his hand up the back of Buck's neck again, into the soft hair at his nape, and smiles when Buck makes a strange, almost purring sound into the side of his neck.

"I got some news this week," Buck finally mumbles.

"You don't say?"

"Okay, no need for sarcasm." Buck is frowning when he pulls away and Chris lets him go. Distance is probably a good thing, anyway. He has a feeling he's going to need to keep his wits about him once Buck gets going.

"And?" he prompts, when Buck doesn't say anything more.

"And--" Buck takes three steps away, then two back, and spreads his arms wide. "--apparently I have a cub."

That's so far from anything Chris might have expected that he's temporarily speechless. "A-- What did you say?"

"A cub, Chris, a daughter!" Buck's pacing faster, now, as his agitation rises. "A woman, named Nettie Wells, phoned on Tuesday -- God knows how she tracked me down -- but she says that her niece, is my kid, that her sister, Lucy, Casey's mom, knew me fifteen years ago. Fifteen years, Chris! I was just turned twenty, myself. Who even thinks about having cubs at that age?!"

"All right, calm down," Chris's own brain is racing. He hadn't even met Buck back then, so he can't contribute any memories of his own, and besides, he's new enough to this Two Blood thing that talk of 'cubs' instead of children pulls him up short. But this is not the time or place for him to have a crisis, so instead he asks Buck, "Do you remember her mother?"

Bucks face shifts into an indignant frown. There's no surer way to insult him than to imply that any of his sexual liaisons are meaningless.

"What do you mean? Of course I remember Lucy." His eyes go soft and his voice takes on that honeyed tone that means Buck's thinking about sex. "She had skin soft as silk, and the most beautiful brown eyes--"

Chris holds up a hand, he's not in the mood for a recitation of the virtues of every woman Buck ever took to his bed. "Okay, I'm just checking that you're sure the kid is yours."

"Well, yeah. Seems likely, seeing as how her mother wasn't Two Blood, and she, apparently, is."

Right. Well, even Chris has to admit that the chances of some other random Two Blood coming along and fathering a child with the same woman Buck slept with are pretty remote.

"Buck." He reaches out and hauls Buck in, then leans in and presses him against the wall, using his body to ground him. "What does she want? Why's she getting in touch now?"

"She's grown up without a pack, Chris. Apparently she wants to know what being a Two Blood means and has somehow come to the conclusion that I'm her best bet for a teacher." Buck's laugh has a desperate tinge to it, and there's air quotes around the last few words, as though he's repeating a conversation. Chris is starting to understand the emotion that's been driving him the last few days, but it still pisses him off that Buck seems to think he has options.

"Buck, if she's your kid then you have to help her out. Of all people, you should understand how hard it is to grow up without a pack."

Buck just shakes his head and slides down the wall until his ass hits the ground. "Oh, I understand all right, but Jesus, Chris, what the hell do I know about teenagers?"

"She's just a kid, Buck, your kid, what more do you need to know?" Chris squats down next to him and taps his knee to get his attention. "C'mon, look at me."

Buck does, and his eyes are dark with a desperate kind of confusion, but there's something else in there too -- a fragile hope buried underneath the bewilderment.

Chris isn't surprised Buck's freaked out by the situation. No matter how casual or laidback he might appear to the rest of the world, Buck craves stability. He's had a lousy experience with family, and because of his own nomadic upbringing has no frame of reference for the appearance of a child out of the blue.

"Have you met her yet?" Chris asks, gentling his voice.

"No. Nettie wants to bring her here. That's why I want to talk to Koje. He knows more about the packs than I do. Hell, maybe I'll get lucky and he'll know something about pubescent females, too."

Chris barks out a laugh and pushes to his feet. "Don't know that there's anyone can help you out with that one, Buck," he says and holds out a hand. "Come on, best go talk to Vin and Chanu if you want to stay there tonight. We'll need an early start in the morning."

Buck hesitates for a minute, a mixture of uncertainty and hope in his eyes. "You sure about this, Chris?"

"Hell, yeah, I"m sure. She's your kid, Buck, and there's nothing more important than that. Besides, if you think I'd turn down the chance of watching a teenage girl run rings around you, you're dreaming!"

"Bastard," Buck swears, finally griping his hand, but he's smiling, too, and the shadows in his eyes have retreated. "You have to know that as Alpha, it'll be your choice whether she stays or not."

That's a sobering thought, but Chris hasn't even met the kid yet and he's already made up his mind. "Family's important, Buck. She wants to stay, then I'll do everything I can to make that happen."

Buck's smile widens into a full-on grin, and he shuffles Chris backwards until his back hits the wall.

"You're something else, Chris Larabee," he murmurs just before he presses his mouth to Chris's in a bruising kiss.

Chris gives back as good as he gets -- he is the Alpha, after all -- and when they finally come up for air, he figures he still has a point to make. "Yeah, well maybe you'll remember that next time you're tempted to tie yourself up in knots for days at a time over something that's not even your decision. I mean it, Buck, no more lone-wolf bullshit. You hear me?"

Buck has the grace to look sheepish for all of five seconds, then his eyes light up and he tugs Chris back toward the bar. "C'mon, stud. Things to do, people to see. Don't be dragging your feet."

His good humour is contagious, and Chris is smiling, too, before he realises it -- a cub wanting to join their pack, and not just any cub, but Buck's _daughter_ of all things.

Stranger things have probably happened somewhere in the world, but if they have, Chris is yet to hear of them.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Prompt from recipient:**
> 
> Character(s) and/or pairing(s): Chris/Buck.  
> Verse: ATF, other modern or futuristic AU  
> Prompt : Chris and Buck are a dedicated couple. Buck or Chris gets a call from a woman from their past. She has a daughter and it's Buck's.  
> Not preferred: Kidfic. I mean specifically that I'm interested in Chris and Buck (and any of the rest of the seven as supporting characters, if the author chooses) and how they feel rather than the OC kid.


End file.
